Riz Ahmed Tells UK Parliament Representation Matters

Star Wars star Riz Ahmed spoke to UK Parliament about the need for diversity on TV and in movies, and how the lack or representation can cause national divides.

Rogue One star and Internet Boyfriend Riz Ahmed spoke to Britain’s House of Commons on Thursday about the need for better representation in TV and movies.

The need for diverse stories in entertainment has been a big issue on both sides of the pond, from #OscarsSoWhite (and the smaller, less discussed #BAFTASSoWhite) to calls for more inclusive casting in major franchises like Marvel. While the majority of the controversies and discussions have stuck to Twitter, Ahmed is now urging the UK government to take the issue seriously.

In his speech, Ahmed shared stories about the racism he’s encountered despite being a successful actor and rapper, and the increase in hate crimes in both the U.S. and UK since the double whammy of Brexit and Donald Trump.

Focusing on issues in England, Ahmed pointed out how the national identity revolves around period pieces with an almost all-white cast and crew: think Downtown Abbey, The Crown, Victoria, etc.

He also talked about the importance of representation instead of diversity: diversity sounds like an added bonus instead of a requirement.

"“We’re talking about representation, not diversity. Representation is not an added extra, it’s not a frill. It’s absolutely fundamental to what people expect from culture and from politics.”"

The soundbite that got the most traction was when he said that young people being neglected by pop culture could head down the path towards ISIS. The right wing media capitalized on this moment and tried to misconstrue Ahmed’s words.

We know that groups like ISIS try to recruit young Muslims in the West by telling them that their governments, and the West in general, doesn’t care about them. By providing an alternate narrative in movies and TV shows that depict Muslims as integral to society, Ahmed argues it fights against that idea.

"“In the mind of the ISIS recruit, he’s the next James Bond right? Have you seen some of those ISIS propaganda videos, they are cut like action movies. Where is the counter narrative? Where are we telling these kids they can be heroes in our stories, that they’re valued?”"

You can watch the whole video via his Facebook page.

Riz Ahmed – Channel4 Diversity Speech 2017 @ House of Commons

Here's the speech I gave at Parliament yesterday hosted by Channel4 about diversity, or as I think we should call it REPRESENTATION. Diversity sounds like an optional extra. Representation is fundamental to what expect from our culture. When people don't feel represented, you get extremism, division, and lose out on our full potential. Things can get very ugly very fast. Let's step up, and REPRESENT.

Posted by Riz MC on Thursday, March 2, 2017

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Ahmed recently appeared in the final season of Girls, as well as on Netflix’s The OA.